Spanish design chosen for museum to house Afghanistan's treasures

KABUL, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The winning design for a new
museum in Kabul to showcase a growing collection of
centuries-old Afghan treasures was selected this week, throwing
forward plans sponsors hope will restore Afghanistan's sense of
identity after decades of war.

The United States has committed $5 million to the project
that will be run by a Spanish architect and includes
state-of-the-art security and climate control features that will
keep artefacts safe while on display to the Afghan people.

"They (young Afghans) are thirsting for knowledge about
their past and this museum is beginning to address those
desires," said Nancy Dupree, Director of the Afghanistan Center
in Kabul University.

Afghanistan's national museum was plundered and destroyed
during a vicious civil war that raged in the early 1990s in the
wake of the Soviet withdrawal. Thousands of works of art were
deliberately destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Discoveries made at archeological sites like Mes Aynak,
where archaeologists are unearthing a Buddhist temple, statues
and other relics, some more than 2,000 years old, will sit
alongside treasures restored or recovered over the past decade.

The winning design by Spanish architect AV 62 Arquitectos
SLP envisioned pools, gardens and trees to surround the new
museum, beating entries by 30 different countries in a
competition sponsored by the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

U.S. ambassador Hugo Llorens said the embassy was now
seeking a fundraiser to raise money for the project.
(Reporting by Miriam Arghanidiwal; Editing by Jessica Donati
and Paul Tait)